I don't have a sister...so, personally, no - I don't go all out for nieces and nephews. Nor do I think it's expected. However, my dh's sisters are so enmeshed with each other's lives, and my db's wife and her sisters are so enmeshed with each other's lives that it would be wierd for them NOT to go all out for each other's kids. I do feel strange sometimes, like we're the odd couple at family get-togethers. In the past, I tried to really reach out and get involved in their lives. That brought me nothing but pain, so I'm happy feeling "Out-of-the-loop" every now and then. :cool:

Not really so much for the weight aspect, but just because it seems so healthy. I'm thinking it would also help me get some *alone* time - something this introverted mommy needs about 3:00 pm every afternoon! If I really do keep at it, I'll let you know. It would be fun to have some accountability-partners!

who at 65+ is still a size 10 and exercises 3-5 times a week. (She doesn't exercise vigorously, but didn't even start until the weight suddenly came on.) She felt it very keenly, as well. When I was in high school and college, I would buy 3/4's and she would buy 7's - but we would wear each other's clothes (especially dresses). So, it was like an era had passed. I will be 40 in April, and though I am down to a size 6, I still *look* big in the stomach after having my dd at 37yo. (When the BooKs are smaller than the stomach, it just really doesn't matter *how little* the stomach actually is - :mad:) Suffice it to say, I don't expect to ever fit into my size 2's ever again.

Take my mom, for instance. I had been married *4* years - I was 26 yo - when I called to tell her I was expecting her first grandchild. Her response (I am not joking!), "Oh, (long pause)....did you *mean* to do that?" The disappointment in her voice had me crying for months. Was she upset because of how it would affect me? Oh - No! She just "wasn't ready to be a *grandmother*," and *How* could I do this to her? :( Then the baby came, and every weekend we were invited over. If we couldn't make it over, they would offer to drive up and keep the baby for the night. BTW - The grandkids still call her "Gi Gi" because she refused to be called by any traditional "grandma" name! :p

Gotcha - and thanks again!

We started R&S in 6th grade with the 6th grade book. We had done Abeka 5 before that - which covered as much as Pred. Adj, Pred Nom, IO and DO. (But always in non-complex sentences.) R&S 6 was a stretch at times, but mostly comfortable. It required more mastery, and dealt with complex sentences. This year we're doing R&S-7, and I can't imagine trying to do the "review" at the beginning of the book without having first gone through R&S-6. It is a BIG stretch at times, even having done R&S-6. I think the recommendation from the Corrections page on the website states to start an older student in R&S-6, and that worked well for us. hth, Rhonda

Could you define "struggling" a bit more concretely? My now-4th gr ds knows exactly what he wants to say. It is usually "more" rather than "less". However, he does not proof for spelling or capitalization or punctuation as he goes. And, since many of his sentences structures are more complex than what he's learned to punctuate via R&S-4, I help quite a bit with that. He does have a problem with run-ons. So, is that "struggling"? And, should I be helping him catch his errors as he writes - for example, his history narrations? Right now, I go over them with him the next day. (And he does catch some without my help.) Thanks for the sample! :)

http://www.thehomeschoolmagazine.com/How_To_Homeschool/articles/articles.php?aid=226 You will probably have to cut and paste as I haven't figured out how to do links here, yet. This was buried in one of Trivium's posts about the "deceptions of Classical Education" (or some such non-sense). I thought it was just too good to let it stay buried. Thanks to Michelle in MO for linking it first! What a great picker-upper in the middle of these bleak Jan/Feb days!

Cynthia, Do you have a schedule for adding in Human Odyssey to SL-200? (please, pretty please!)

Sorry - I was born in FL and raised in GA. And I just don't *do* Canada!!! =)

and for a moment there I thought maybe I was too! :D Yes, yes and yes! Very good job! If you want more, just google, "how to write an essay" and you will be *amazed* at how many tutorials there are out there, some of which are actually quite witty. The main thing is, in a 5-paragraph essay you want to end your introductory paragraph with a thesis statement. (I *think* it was on the CD that SWB defines a thesis - basically a statement that is an opinion which can be supported by facts). The "body" of the essay is the three middle paragraphs, each one devoted to one fact which supports your thesis. In the closing paragraph, you basically summarize your thesis and facts (or, as we learned just recently in R&S-7, you can write a "call to action" in which you challenge the reader to respond in a certain way). Because thesis statements involve forming an opinion and supporting them, they are what WTM would save for Rhetoric stage writing. Logic stage writing is more concerned with facts, not opinions. As an aside, this is why I think WTM saves true "literary analysis" for Rhetoric stage as well. Almost all literary analysis is opinion supported by details from the book. (We are using the WTM Lit list and even the questions from WEM to guide our discussions, but I still just have my ds write narrations/summaries and then a one or two sentence evaluation at the end, per the WTM Logic suggestions.) I know it's hard to trust a road you've never been down on. My 4th gr son has it *so* much easier, because even though I haven't done 5th grade, I can see what's coming up in 6th and 7th and how it is laying such a solid foundation. I will be in a pickle in a few years when dd is ready to start 3rd and I still have R&S-3, but SWB's new writing curriculum will be calling.....:(

:) I had to chuckle at this. Reminded me of when my oldest was in 1st, and my dh insisted I send ds to "Time Out" when he refused to do his work. So, one day during math he slammed the book closed and announced quite loudly, "I'm putting myself in Time Out!" :)

On the old board, people would post "sorry about that typo", and I would sit for 10 minutes just trying to find it. :p

I agree. OP, didn't your friend's mother even teach her "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all?" Once upon a time, we used the term "starter home" to imply a house that you received "special first-time-homebuyer discount" financing for. Our first home came with the option of the then-unheard-of 5% downpayment plan, but this was only available to those who had never owned a house before - and it was an offer that was specific to that house. But, as you know, with 0% down deals and ARM's, practically anything and everything would now qualify as a "starter" home.

Oh, well, if we have to be body-doubles, then forget it! But I wouldn't do to have a romance like that.....

I don't know. I do sometimes wonder if some of these people (like the lady who walked into a grocery store, took her kids to the restroom, locked the door, and then stabbed them) resort to this because they feel they no longer have the funds to support their children, and they'd rather kill them than see them starve to death. (Maybe I've been reading too many Grimm fairy tales this year?) Still sickening. I guess I want to believe that if I could *help* these people in *some* way, then it would stop.

nt

I think the hardest part is that you will constantly be reading about writing programs that seem much more advanced in middle school than what you will be working on. You will read that R&S isn't really enough. (hence my collection of pristine-condition supplemental writing curriculum!) When those moments come, I now try to remind myself that I didn't know what a 5-paragraph essay was until AP English, and somehow still managed a 5 on the exam. It's really not that hard to learn to fill out the form *if* you have all those paragraph tools in your toolbelt. Best wishes! :D

It makes me sick that every day it seems there is a new story about some parent-figure killing their own. I was literally paralyzed for two weeks after the details of Baby Grace's death came out. I still have an index card with the words, "Baby Grace, I won't forget," that I keep in my homeschool folder. On those days when I'm so wanting to complain about "how bad" it is, I see that and know *nothing* I've ever - or will ever - experience could compare to the horror that child lived through. I hope I will reach the point where I will never complain again! I even don't really care about all the politics going on right now. I think there is something so evil and so perverted happening in our midst and nothing is being said or done (not that politics could fix it, anyway).

Sue, I don't know what type of resources you have in PA. Do you possibly have some older, experienced (graduated a few) homeschool moms who are now in places of leadership that could counsel you? We have a lady like that here in Georgia. She organizes one of the conventions. She gives seminars throughout the year. She also tutors homeschool and public school students, and acts as an advocate for students with special needs. She counsels homeschool moms, helping them find which materials to use and how. Geesh, this super-woman even has a "Nanny 911" service where she will come to your home and help you set up routines, etc. to help your homeschool run more smoothly. (overwhelming, I know!) But, my heart is breaking for you *and* for your son (and your other dc). I really hope you will consider trying to find someone IRL who can come into your lives and help you walk through this and get to a better place. I'm going to link to Randi's website. Maybe that will give you an idea of your own - or maybe she might know of someone in your area. Praying for you! Rhonda

I have CW Aesop and Homer here. And Class. Comp Fable. And Wordsmith (which I really *tried* to add to R&S after worrying it wouldn't be enough). Really and truly, I like them all. But, R&S meets us where we are and will take us where we need to go. I can push as hard or as easy as we can stand or need, and still feel like we are on the right track. I guess what I'm trying to say is, we just started hs'ing 1/2-way thru 5th grade. But, I was able to start R&S in 6th, and it ramped my ds up gradually, but so much faster than I would have thought possible. Now, I can dig in and ask for more - you'll be able to do that much faster. So, it's very flexible.

I did ABeka in 5th grade, so I can't speak to that as far as R&S goes, but.... What I would encourage you to do is get all the mileage you can out of *every* writing assignment. In R&S 6 (and in 7), you will start with different types of paragraphs. Assign a different type of paragraph in History each week. If you can figure out how to do that in Science, more power to ya. (That was easier to do using Prentice Hall than it has been in Apologia.) Keep rotating through and assigning these different types of paragraphs cross-curricularly through the entire year, even though you will move on to other types of writing (letters, book reports, etc.). Be sure that each paragraph has a topic sentence, and that the sentences belong in the paragraph. How much further you proof may vary. If you can figure out how to assign things like "writing a letter" cross-curricularly, that's wonderful. (I always seem to think of these things too late :( ) In R&S-6, you will learn how to take notes from multiple sources, then re-order them to make an outline, and write a report. In R&S-7, you will go through the same process, but it will be an oral report. They will have to outline the body of their presentation, and write out complete paragraphs for the introduction and conclusion. (They also do a great job teaching how to narrow down the topic.) We haven't gotten this far yet, but after the oral report (we're here), you will start compiling a descriptive composition "of at least 300 words". This is still not an "essay" with a thesis and 5-paragraphs, but between this and the oral report, you are definitely getting close! I plan to start doing "mini-reports" each week in History (I should have done this in 6th grade, but we had other issues still to deal with from ps-gaps) - but, I will simply have him do the outline without "taking notes" first. We will probably have to do this together for a while. (Oh , yeah!) In R&S-8, Lesson 24 covers the "Types of Composition", and includes exposition, argument, narration and description. The writing assignment for that lesson is still paragraphs, but after reviewing outlines and using them for compositions, they will be preparing a 4-6 minute oral report, and then converting that to a written report. Both R&S7 and 8 includes story-writing (and this includes alot of literary analysis terms) and poetry. R&S 8 also includes writing a persuasive argument. This is where you will really want to make sure they understand the 5-paragraph essay we all know and love! There is so much more, of course. But, after looking through R&S8 (just got it a few weeks ago), I feel so relieved. Like, "Yes! It's in there! We're gonna be ok!" But, I wish I could go back and do the writing assignments more thoroughly. I guess, I am trying to view it more as a "writing course with grammar" rather than a "grammar course with writing thrown in". Does any of that help?

Unfortunately for me, I think things like spell-check and stars and rep are *not* plusses - merely more things to put on my ever-ignored to-do list. :D Thank you once again, Nan. Very helpful, indeed!

Here, too.

Frankly, I can't imagine the info "sticking" without it. (And, my 4th grader's book this year is *so much* better than my older son's was last year.) At the beginning of the year, I was worried about my 4th gr not really being ready for LCII in 5th, but he is blowing me away. I think the exercises in the Ludere are really what clicks with him - he can decline so much faster than I can. Not fun like a video game, but....well, not much is! =)